DIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO AND WESTERN AMERICA: January 19, 2011
News From the Western American Diocese 

On Wednesday, January 5, 2011, His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America ordained Deacon David Starr to the priesthood during Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in San Francisco. Fr David, a long-time professor of philosophy at St John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is assigned second priest of the St Juliana of Lazarevo parish there. 

On Saturday, December 25, 2010, Archbishop Kyrill ordained Subdeacon Andrew Griga to the holy deaconate at St Herman of Alaska Church in Sunnyvale, California. Father Andrew is assigned to the St Herman parish.  

On December 16, 2010, one of the Western American Diocese's senior priests, Father Vladimir Anderson, reposed. Fr Vladimir served his last Divine Liturgy on Pascha of 2007. Unfortunately after that he got involved with a schismatic group and broke with his canonical bishop. By the mercy of God in the last two months of his life Father Vladimir brought repentance, received the Holy Gifts and was reconciled to the fullness of the Orthodox Church. The services for the departed for Fr Vladimir were held at the St. Seraphim Church (Orthodox Church in America) in Santa Rosa with the participation of clergy from the Russian Church Abroad, Orthodox Church in America, and the Serbian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches. 

"Orthodox Christian Recorded Books" in Maine has released in digital format the funeral of the Holy Hierarch John of Shanghai and San Francisco. The recording, recovered from the original reel-to-reel from the archive of Archpriest Peter Perekrestov, has been reproduced on CD. It contains not only the entire funeral service, but also the greeting of Metropolitan Philaret and numerous eulogies by the old bishops and clergy of the Russian Church Abroad. The CD can be ordered by calling: (212) 534-1601.